M5
EAST TUNNEL AIR QUALITY MONITORING REPORT – JULY 2003
Executive
Summary of Health Report
NB Pollutants
monitored in the course of the study were:
- carbon
monoxide (CO)
- carbon
dioxide (CO2)
- nitrogen
dioxide (NO2)
- BTEX
gases (eg benzine)
- fine
particulates (PM10 - PM2.5)
- All
CO levels measured were “within WHO guidelines,” and
- “...
were significantly lower when the cabin was closed.”
- There
are “no appropriate guidelines for NO2 exposure”
in contexts such as this. However, there is a need for “better
understanding and management” of this in road tunnels.
- “Through
the simple act of closing the vehicle cabin windows and switching
the vehicle ventilation to recirculate” can be an effective precautionary
measure to reduce the exposure to pollutants when using road tunnels.
Closed
windows can reduce exposure:
- to
CO/NO2 by 70-73%
- to
particulates by 80%
- to
BTEX gases by 50%.
RTA
Responses: “RTA welcomes the Health Report Findings... this
latest study shows that the M5 East is meeting the guidelines set down
for its operations.”
Health
Department Response: “Normal transit times of 7-10 minutes
did not expose motorists to high levels of pollutants...”
“Notwithstanding
that one should avoid air pollutants when one can... particularly people
with asthma and other respiratory sensitivities.”
Response
to the Report by Doctor Ray Kearney, Associate Professor from the
University of Sydney’s Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology...
Dr Kearney,
who has been involved with supporting RAPS for a number of years, has
also worked comprehensively with the Lane Cove tunnel group since its
inception. Consequently, he thoroughly analysed the M5 East AQ Health
Report summarised above, finding it lacked the “academic rigour”
that traditionally characterises such scientific reports if they are
to have any validity. He found the Report to be a ‘flawed’
document in many respects.
For example,
he pointed out that the WHO Guidelines cited above apply only to one
element, CO, and not to the toxic mixture of chemicals, particulates
and gases monitored in the M5 East Tunnel. Moreover, the carcinogenic
concoction that enters and is for some time retained in the cabins of
vehicles passing through the tunnel (as well, presumably in the residential/commercial
areas around its portals and single stack) for some time before it dissipates.
This is particularly dangerous for those prone to asthma and with existing
respiratory illnesses.
A full
copy of Dr Kearney’s analysis of the Health Report is currently
held by the UPC’s representative on the AQCCC, M. Clarence if you
are interested in tapping into the fuller feedback session that was
part of the SAPS meeting on the 19th of August.
Margaret
Clarence